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Russian TV reporter quits over crash coverage

A reporter for a global Russian TV channel has resigned over what she called the Kremlin-funded station's "disregard for the facts" in its coverage of the downing of the Malaysian passenger jet over Ukraine.

Russian TV reporter quits over crash coverage

A reporter for a global Russian TV channel resigned over what she called the Kremlin-funded station's "disregard for the facts" in its coverage of the downing of the Malaysian passenger jet over Ukraine.

Sara Firth, based in London, quit Friday morning after five years with Moscow-based RT. After tweeting her departure, she told the Press Gazette Thursday's coverage was "the straw that broke the camel's back for me."

She told the British media trade magazine that as soon as the story broke, "I walked into the newsroom, and they were running an eyewitness account of God knows who the person was blaming the Ukrainian government, and it is such a volatile situation.

"It's the level of disrespect for the facts that really bugs me," she said.

"I couldn't do it any more, We're lying every single day ... and finding sexier ways to do it."

In a Twitter exchange with another RT correspondent before she resigned, Firth said that they spread "lies" and that they "work for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin."

"We are asked on a daily basis if not to totally ignore then to obscure the truth," she tweeted.

Firth told the Press Gazette hours later that the RT style manual tells the editorial staff to cast blame on Ukraine, or any other factor, instead of Russia. "It's scary that it's genuine RT guidance on how to do a story, and you have to believe it to succeed there. You stop believing that what they say is the way it is and you stop being useful to them."

An RT statement said the station was "not surprised" by her resignation, because she had "recently informed us that she was likely to take an offer from another firm."

"Sara has declared that she chooses the truth; apparently we have different definitions of truth," the statement continued. "We believe that truth is what our reporters see on the ground, with their own eyes, and not what's printed in the morning London newspaper."

An op-ed by a United Kingdom journalist posted Friday on RT declared: "UK media show weakness for sensationalism & propaganda in wake of MH17 tragedy."

RT, formerly Russia Today, began broadcasting in English in 2005, and then added coverage in Spanish and Arabic. The station says it "provides an alternative perspective on major global events, and acquaints international audience with the Russian viewpoint." Critics call it a mouthpiece for Putin and the Kremlin.

In an interview with the Press Gazette last year, Firth, 27, denied the station was biased toward the Russian government.

"Facts are my religion," she said at the time. "When it comes to covering a story, if anyone asked me to alter or drop something, I'd be out. I wouldn't think twice about it."

Firth is the second RT staffer to resign this year. In March, Washington-based anchor Liz Wahl quit on the air, saying the station "whitewashes the actions of Putin" and asks her to "promote Russian foreign policy."

Australian, Malaysian and Dutch investigators examine pieces of the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near Rossipne, Ukraine on Aug. 5. The jet crashed on July 17, killing all 298 people on board. (Photo: AP)

Armed separatists in military attire block passage of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe investigators heading to the wreckage site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. (Photo: Evert-Jan Daniels, European Pressphoto Agency)

Sympathizers hug in front of a flower tribute at the entrance to the Korporaal van Oudheusdenkazerne army barracks in Hilversum, Netherlands, on July 24. Victims of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash in the Ukraine will be identified at the facility. (Photo: Jerry Lampen, epa)

The convoy of funeral hearses carrying the remains of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash victims heads July 24 from the airbase in Eindhoven to Hilversum, Netherlands, where they will be identified. (Photo: Remko De Waal, EPA)

People attend a silent march of remembrance in Amsterdam on July 23. The first bodies of passengers and crew killed on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 arrived in the Netherlands from the Ukraine. July 23 was an official day of mourning in the Netherlands. (Photo: Phil Nijhuis, AP)

Dutch military men carry a coffin containing the body of a victim of downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, during a ceremony at Eindhoven Airbase upon their arrival in Netherlands. (Photo: John Thys, AFP/Getty Images)

A woman mourns victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on July 23. The Dutch government has declared a day of national mourning as two planes arrive, carrying victims from the flight that crashed in Ukraine. (Photo: Robin Van Lonkhuijsen, AFP/Getty Images)

Malaysian experts check debris at the Malaysia Airlines crash site on July 22 near Hrabove, Ukraine. The aircraft was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down by a missile on July 17, killing all 298 people on board. (Photo: Robert Ghement, epa)

A Malaysian investigator photographs debris at the scene of the Malaysia Airlines jet crash near Hrabove, Ukraine. The Boeing 777 aircraft with 298 people onboard was shot down by a missile July 17. (Photo: Vadim Ghirda, AP)

Pro-Russian rebels, right, followed by members of the OSCE mission, walk by plane wreckage as they arrive for a media briefing at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, near the village of Hrabove, in eastern Ukraine, on July 22. (Photo: Vadim Ghirda, AP)

Ukrainian police officers secure a refrigerated train loaded with the bodies of passengers from the crashed Malaysian Airlines flight during a stop at a factory in Kharkiv. (Photo: Olga Ivashchenko, AP)

Deputy head of a European observer mission to Ukraine Alexander Hug, center right, stands outside a refrigerated train as members of Netherlands' National Forensic Investigations Team inspect the bodies of victims from the Malaysia Airlines crash in Torez, eastern Ukraine. (Photo: Vadim Ghirda, AP)

Kees Klompenhouwer, the Dutch ambassador to Ukraine, left, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko lay flowers to commemorate the victims of the crash at the Dutch Embassy in Kiev. (Photo: Sergey Dolzhenko, European Pressphoto Agency)

Luggage and personal belongings from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 lie in a field on July 20 near Grabovo, Ukraine. The airliner was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed, killing all 298 on board, including 80 children. (Photo: Rob Stothard, Getty Images)

A pro-Russia soldier holds up a toy he found in the debris at the Malaysia Airlines crash. Emergency workers, police officers and off-duty coal miners searched the scene of the crash for the bodies of 298 people who died in the July 17 crash. (Photo: Dmitry Lovetsky, AP)

Alexander Hug, center, deputy chief monitor of the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe's special monitoring mission to Ukraine, visits the site of the airliner crash near Shaktarsk. (Photo: Dominique Faget, AFP/Getty Images)

Interpreters work as Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations Yuriy Sergeyev speaks at a Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York. (Photo: Andrew Gombert, European Pressphoto Agency)

Pro-Russia militants stand next to wreckage from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near Donetsk. The Boeing 777 airliner with 298 people on board was possibly shot down by a missile on July 17 near the Russia-Ukraine border. (Photo: Anastasia Vlasova, European Pressphoto Agency)

A man covers a body with a plastic sheet near the Malaysia Airlines crash site near Rozsypne village, Ukraine. Rescue workers, police officers and off-duty coal miners are searching for victims in an area in eastern Ukraine where the Malaysian plane was shot down on July 17, killing all 298 passengers. (Photo: Dmitry Lovetsky, AP)